Excavating machine with fore and aft vertically displaced digging units



Nov. 24, 1964 v. s. PENOTE EXCAVATING MACHINE WITH FORE AND AFT VERTICALLY DISPLACED DIGGING UNITS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March l3, 1962 ggqgg wawi INVENTOR. vmcsu'r 5. Pane-re HTTORNEYS Nov. 24, 1964 v. s. PENOTE EXCAVATING MACHINE WITH FORE AND AFT VERTICALLY DISPLACED DIGGING UNITS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 13, 1962 n R o o M 3 T m T s m P H V N L. w W T Haw T 1 1 W H II I l u A; ll a V T 9 W. 2

M? 3 8 $3.2 2 L. Nw n F m s on S W 2 TA g F wv @X l1 a t-\ vm vm 3 a a w m o a S Nov. 24, 1964 v. s. PENOTE 3,157,956

EXCAVATING MACHINE WITH FORE AND AFT VERTICAL-LY DISPLACED DIGGING UNITS Filed March 15, 1962 3 Shaets-$heet 3 INVENTOR. Viuczm 5. Pane-rs Ted/w, T0118 HTT RNCYS 3,157,56 EXQAVATWG MACHENE WITH HERE AND AFT VERTHQALLY DISPLACED HIGGINS UNITS Vincent S. Penote, 13555 Parkland Drive, Shaker Heights, Ghio Fiieii Ma 13, rats, $61. No. 179,331 19 marinas. (U. 3797) This invention relates in general to excavating machines, and more particularly to a mobile excavating machine having a plurality of endless digging units mounted thereon, and adapted for excavating trenches and the like.

Conventional excavating machines of the general type with which this invention is concerned generally comprise a mobile frame which supports a power unit on one end and a boom or frame mounted digging unit on the other end, with the digging unit and associated boom being usually adjustable in a generally vertical plane, to provide for varying the depth of the excavation. The digging unit and associated boom generally projects a considerable distance from the respective end of the machine chassis, and the power unit on the other end of the machine chassis usually is so positioned to attempt to provide a counter-balancing force, in order to provide a more generally balanced machine. Such an arrangement results in a machine of considerable length and bulk for a predetermined digging capacity.

The present invention provides a mobile excavating machine having a plurality of digging units mounted thereon, one of the digging units being disposed at the forward end of the machine chassis and another digging unit being disposed at the rearward end of the machine chassis with the power unit being located on the chassis intermediate the digging units, thereby resulting in a machine of much greater digging capacity on one chassis, and at the same time achieving a substantially perfect balance at the front and rear ends of the machine, which results in more equal distribution of the machines weight over the endless treads or other traction means supporting the machine chassis for movement on the ground, and with on dead-weight counter-balances being required. The result is a machine of much greater capacity as compared to conventional machines, and a machine which can be produced at a considerably less expense, because of its comparatively light weight and small size, as compared to its digging capacity. This comparatively small size and light weight present tremendous advantages, because the machine can be transported or shipped on a highway trailer or railway fiatcar without the necessity of dismantling and re-erection which is generally necessary with most conventional large capacity excavating machines. Moreover, since the material being excavated is divided up between the spaced digging units of the machine, such material can be handled and removed as for instance when loaded on trucks or the like, with much greater flexibility and effectiveness as compared to trenching machines heretofore known.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel excavating machine having a plurality of digging units thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel excavating machine having a plurality of digging units thereon, with one of the digging units being mounted at the forward end of the macmne chassis and another of the digging units being mounted at the rearward end of the machine chassis, which results in a machine of much better balance and one of reduced length and weight when its digging capacity is compared to that of conventional machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mobile United States Patent excavating machine of the above general type wherein the lateral extremities of the digging units project outwardly of the lateral extremities of the traction means supporting the machine chassis, so that the machine travels in the excavation being dug by the forward dig ging unit.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an excavating machine of the above general type together with a novel power system for fluid driving or actuation of various components of the machine, including the traction means, the discharge conveyors, and the digging unit booms of the machine.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a mobile excavating machine embodying the instant invention;

FiG. 2 is a generally diagrammatic end elevational view of the excavating machine of FIG. 1, taken from the right hand end thereof, and with the digging unit of the machine being shown in phantom lines for simplicity;

FIG. 3 is a generally diagrammatic top plan view of the excavating machine of FIG. 1 with the parts of the machine being shown in generally diagrammatic form for simplicity;

FIG. 4 is a generally diagramamtic plan view of the power system of the machine for driving the machine and for operating various other working components of the machine;

Referring now again the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1 thereof, there is illustrated an excavating machine embodying the instant invention. Such an excavating or trenching machine broadly comprises a main frame or chassis 16, supported on suitable traction mechanism, such as for instance the tractor treads 12, a main power plant or internal combustion engine 14 supported on the chassis frame 19, mast structures 16, 16a on each end of the chassis frame for supporting a respective boom frame 18, 18a adjacent the opposite ends'of the chassis. Endless, bucket equipped digging units 29, 20a are movably mounted 011 the respective boom structure. Each digging unit may be movably supported on its boom structure in the conventional manner and by a plurality of transversely paired rollers 22, one pair of which may be supported by a depending frame structure 24 projecting downwardly from the underside of the boom.

Each boom frame may be pivoted, as at 28, to the respective mass structure 16, 16a on the machine chassis for movement in a generally vertical plane, and which provides for varying the depth of excavation of the respective digging unit, as shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 1. Pivo-ting of the boom frame in said generally vertical plane and with respect to the respective mast structure may be accomplished by means of a double-acting fluid powered reciprocal motor unit or units 30, pivotally coupled as at 32 to the mast structure, and pivotally attached as at 34 to cross member 26 of the respective boom frame.

Each boom frame may comprise a substantially rectangular-shaped (in plan view) base frame 36 including side-elements 36a, and upstanding side frame elements 38, which may be connected together by the aforementioned cnoss member 26 and lower transversely extending cross members 40, resulting in a substantially rigid boom structure for supporting the respective digging unit thereon. As shown in FIG. 1, boom frame 18 is preferably pivoted to its mast 16 at a higher elevation as compared to that of rearward boom frame 18a.

As can be best seen inFlG. 1, application of pressurized fluid to the motor units 30, will cause adjustment of the position of the respective boom frame and associated digging unit in a generally vertical plane. The fluid powered motor units may be effectively used to crowd their respective digging unit into biting contact with the material being excavated, with the arrangement disclosed, which is an advantage especially when digging in hard materials, such as for instance shale or coral.

Each digging unit may have a transversely extending discharge conveyor mechanism 42 projecting therethrough for receiving the dug material from the buckets of the digging unit, and discharging such excavated material to areas disposed laterally of the machine, such as for instance, automotive trucks moving along with the machine, or the excavated material might be discharged right onto the ground area along the excavation being dug. Each conveyor mechanism 42 may comprise an inner section 43 having a pair of drums 44 at each end thereof and about which is looped an endless conveyor belt, with the inner section 43 being supported by the respective boom frame, and an outer section 45 of considerable length pivoted as at 45a to the respective boom, for angular movement in a generally vertical plane, thereby providing for adjusting the height of the discharge end of the outer section 45 with respect to ground level. Outer section 45 includes end drums 46 in a similar arrangement as inner section 43.

There may be provided a jib 47 pivoted as at 47a to the machine chamis for angular movement in a generally vertical plane and maintained in position by cable or chain 48. Jib 47 may be axially extensible. Jib 47 has a coacting block and tackle arrangement 50 associated therewith for supporting the outer discharge end thereof with respect to the ground level. block and tackle 50 coacts with an associated winding drum on the machine chassis, as will be hereinafter discussed in greater detail. The construction per se of the discharge conveyor and its coacting jib member 47 is more or less conventional in the art. As can best be seen from FIG. 3, one of the discharge conveyors 42 may discharge to the left of the machine, and the other discharge conveyor may discharge to the right of the machine, thereby providing a very convenient arrangement for accommodating the excavated material as it is being dug by the respective digging unit, and for placing such excavated material in the desired position, either along the excavation or into trucks or the like moving along with the excavating machine.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is diagrammatically illustrated a power train system for respectively driving the traction mechanism of the mobile excavating machine, for powering the reciprocal motor units 30 which swing the boom frames of the excavating machine in a generally vertical plane, and for driving the conveyors 42 which extend through each of the digging units. The internal combustion engine or prime mover 14 may be connected through a conventional geared transmission to conventional power take-offs 55a and 55b respectively. Transmission 55 also drives the jack shafts 56 and 58 rotatably mounted on hearing means, and by the chain and sprocket drives 60 and 62. Mounted on jack shaft 56 is a conventional machine operator controlled clutch mechanism 64 which when in clutching relation, drives universal 66 and differential 68, the latter being mounted on the forward boom 18 as best shown in FIG. 1. Differential 68 is operably coupled to digging unit drive shaft 70 via the associated chain and sprocket drive 70a in the conventional manner including a drive sprocket 72 secured to shaft 70 and coacting with drive lugs 72a on the digging uni-t, drives the digging wheel. The rearward digging unit 20a is driven in like manner from its associated drive shaft 70' driven by chain and sprocket drive 70a, differential 68', universal 66, clutch mechanism 64', universal joint 74 and jack shaft 58, driven via aforementioned chain and sprocket drive 62 from the transmission 55.

The power take-off 55b provides power to a fluid pump 76 which is of a conventional variable volume output type, which pump is adapted to provide the necessary fluid pressure for propulsion of the crawler tracks of the vehicle.

Control cable Sila of For purposes of convenient illustration only, the pump '76 is shown as being spaced from the power take-off 551') but in actual practice would be preferably fastened in close or abutting proximity to the power tafie-off for a direct connection. The pressurized fluid from the pump 76 goes via line 78 to a flow divider 80, which may comprise a conventional gear pump with two sets of gears mounted on anti-friction bearing means in the pump housing, and having a common inlet 80a and double outlets 88b, 80b. The pressurized fluid, such as oil, would then proceed from the flow divider 80 via lines 82 and 84 to an associated conventional control valve 36 or 88 in the respective line 82 or 84, each of which control valves controls an associated high speed, conventional, reversible, rotary fluid powered motor unit 90 or 92 which operate associated speed reducers 94 or 96 which as shown in FIG. 1, are operably coupled to the associated traction mechanism of the machine chassis, thus controlling the speed and the direction of movement of the machine.

The fluid pump 1% which is also shown in FIG. 4 as being spaced from the power take-off 55a and which in practice would be fastened in close proximity to the power take-off for direct connection thereto, is preferably a conventional two-stage pump having a constant volume output. The pressurized fluid from each stage of pump 1% goes respectively via flow lines 190a and 18th) to control valve 3G2 and control valve 164. Each of the conveyor sections 43, 45 of each conveyor has at least one of its drums 44, 46 driven by a preferably reversible fluid powered rotary motor unit 1%, 106a, F6, rem. Such rotary motor units for each conveyor mechanism 42 are coupled in series and are preferably furnished additional actuating fluid from another variable volume fluid pump 198 or 110 which latter pumps are preferably driven by power drives 168a and 110a from jack shaft 53. Pressurized fluid from these auxiliary pumps 163, Ht) joins up at the respective aforementioned valve 104 or 162, with the pressurized fluid from pump 1%. The pressurized fluid then leaving valve 104 drives conveyor motors 156 and 106a in series and the pressurized fluid leaving valve 102 drives conveyor motors 156' and liia' in series. As aforementioned these motors are reversible and therefore the conveyor sections may be driven in either lengthwise direction.

A further constant volume fluid pump 114 is provided which may be driven via power drive 114a from jack shaft 58, which will supply the pressurized fluid to the aforementioned digging boom actuating cylinders 30 via control valves 116 and 118 respectively. There may also be provided geared transmissions 120 and 122 which are driven by means of chain and sprocket drives 120a and 122a respectively from jack shaft 58, and which operate drums 124, 126 actuating the control cables 50a on the respective jib for raising and lowering the outer section 45 of the respective conveyor mechanism.

From the foregoing description and accompanying drawings, it will be seen that the invention provides a novel excavating machine having a plurality of digging units mounted thereon, one disposed adjacent the forward end of the machine and the other disposed adjacent the rearward end of the machine, which results in an excavating machine having greater excavating efficiency as compared to conventional excavating machines, together with a novel power train system for driving the various components of the machine.

The trems and expressions which have been used are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of any of the features shown or described, or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

I claim:

1. In a mobile excavating machine comprising a chassis frame, traction means supporting said chassis frame for movement along the ground, a boom frame pivoted to said chassis frame for movement in a generally vertical plane, said boom frame extending rearwardly of the rearward end of the chassis frame, an endless wheel type digging unit movably mounted on said boom frame, a second boom frame pivotally mounted on said chassis frame for movement in a generally vertical plane and extending forwardly of the forward end of the chassis frame, a second endless wheel type digging unit movably mounted on said second boom frame, said digging units being disposed in generally symmetrical relation with respect to the longitudinal vertical center plane of said machine, and means for simultaneously actuating said digging units to cause coincident excavating thereby, the pivotal connection on said forward boom frame to said chassis frame being disposed at a higher elevation than the pivotal connection of said rearward boom frame to said chassis frame whereby said second digging unit is arranged to excavate at a shallower depth than the first mentioned digging unit, each of said digging units being provided with a plurality of excavating buckets oriented around its outer periphery, said means for simultaneously actuating said digging units, driving the latter in a common direction, and fluid powered reciprocal, double acting motor means coacting between each boom frame and the chassis frame for moving the respective boom frame in said generally vertical plane.

2. A mobile excavating machine comprising a chassis, traction mechanism supporting said chassis for movement along the ground, boom frames pivoted to the forward and rearward ends of said chassis for swinging movement in a generally vertical plane and projecting outwardly of the respective end of the chassis, an endless wheel type digging unit movably mounted on each boom frame for excavating operations, a plurality of excavating buckets disposed about the outer periphery of each of the digging units, a power unit mounted on said chassis intermediate said digging units and operably coupled to the latter for simultaneously driving the same in a common direction, reciprocal, fluid powered motor means coacting between said boom frames and said chassis for moving said boom frames and associated igging units in said generally vertical plane, said boom frames being disposed at different elevations with respect to said chassis for enabling the rearward digging unit to dig at a greater depth with respect to the traction mechanism than the forward digging unit, other fluid powered motor means operably coupled to said traction mechanism for driving the latter, discharge conveyor means mounted on each of said boom frames and coacting with the respective digging unit for discharging the excavated material from said digging units laterally of said machine, further fluid powered motor means drivingly coupled to each of said conveyor means, and pump means operably coupled to each of said motor means and to said power unit for providing pressurized fluid to the motor means.

3. In a mobile excavating machine comprising, a chassis, traction mechanism supporting said chassis for movement along the ground, an endless digging unit mounted adjacent the rearward end of the chassis in longitudinally projecting relation thereto and in generally symmetrical relation with the longitudinal vertical center plane of said machine for digging operations, another endless digging unit of approximately the same size and weight as said first unit mounted adjacent the forward end of said chassis in longitudinally projecting relation thereto and in generally symmetrical relation with said plane to provide a balanced machine both foreand-aft and transversely thereof, boom means attached to the chassis and mounting each of said digging units adjacent its respective end of said machine, said boom means being swingable in said plane for varying the digging depth of each digging unit, said boom means being attached to the chassis at different elevations for enabling the rearward digging unit to dig at a greater excavation with respect to the traction mechanism than the forward digging unit, an endless discharge conveyor extending transversely through each digging unit and adapted for receiving excavated material from the respective digging unit and discharging it to one side of the respective digging unit, and means for simultaneously driving said digging units in a common direction and for driving said conveyors for coincident excavating by said digging units and coincident discharge by said conveyors.

4. In a mobile excavating machine having a chassis supported on traction mechanism and an endless digging unit mounted adjacent the rearward end of the chassis in longitudinally projecting relation relative thereto and in generally symmetrical relation with the longitudinal vertical center plane of said machine for digging operations, the combination therewith of another endless digging unit of substantially the same weight as the first mentioned digging unit mounted adjacent the forward I end of said chassis in longitudinally projecting relation relative thereto and in generally symmetrical relation with said plane, each of said digging units including a plurality of excavating buckets disposed about its outer periphery, means projecting from each end of the chassis mounting the respective digging unit thereon substantially equal distances from the ends of the chassis to provide a balanced excavating machine fore and aft, the last mentioned means including means for selective positioning of the respective digging unit in said plane for enabling a greater depth of excavation by the rear digging unit and relative to the traction mechanism as compared to the depth of excavation of the front digging unit, and means for simultaneously driving said digging units in a common direction to cause coincident excavating thereby. 5. In a mobile excavating machine having a chassis, traction mechanism supporting said chassis for movement along the ground, an endless digging unit including a plurality of excavating buckets oriented about the outer periphery of the digging unit, means projecting generally longitudinally outwardly from the rearward end of said chassis and movably supporting said digging unit thereon adjacent the rearward end of the chassis, said means including means providing for selective positioning of said digging unit in a generally vertical plane and with respect to the traction mechanism, for varying the depth of excavation of the digging unit, the combination therewith of other means projecting generally longitudinally outwardiy from the forward end of said chassis and another endless digging unit including a plurality of excavating buckets oriented about the outer periphery of said other digging unit, said other digging unit being movably supported on the last mentioned means adjacent the forward end of the chassis, said last mentioned means including means for selectively positioning said other digging unit in a generally vertical plane and with respect to the trac- 6. A mobile excavating machine in accordance with claim 5 wherein each of the means mounting a digging unit adjacent a respective end of the chassis comprises a boom frame pivoted to the chassis for movement in a generally vertical plane, the pivotal connection of the forward boom frame to the chassis being disposed at a higher elevation with respect to the traction mechanism than the pivotal connection of the rearward boom frame to the chassis.

7. A mobile excavating machine in accordance with claim 5 wherein the side extremities of said other digging unit project laterally of the corresponding side extremities of said traction mechanism.

8. A mobile excavating machine in accordance with claim 7 wherein the side extremities of the first mentioned digging unit project laterally of the corresponding side extremities of said traction mechanism.

9. A mobile excavating machine comprising a chassis, traction mechanism supporting said chassis for movement along the ground, boom frames pivoted to the forward and rearward ends of said chassis for swinging movement in a generally vertical plane and projecting outwardly of the respective end of the chassis, an endless digging unit movably mounted on each boom frame for excavating operations, each of the digging units including a plurality of excavating buckets disposed about the outer periphery of the respective digging unit, a power unit mounted on said chassis intermediate said digging units and operably coupled to the latter for simultaneously driving the same in a common direction, reciprocal fiuid powered motor means coacting between said boom frames and said chassis for moving said 'ooom frames and associated digging units in said generally vertical plane, said boom frames being disposed at different elevations with respect to said chassis for enabling the rearward digging unit to dig at a greater depth relative to the traction mechanism than the forward digging unit, other fluid powered motor means operably coupled to said traction mechanism for driving the latter, discharge conveyor means mounted on each of said boom frames and coacting with the respective digging unit for discharging excavated material from said digging units laterally of said machine, further fluid powered motor means drivingly coupled to each of said conveyor means, and pump means operably coupled to each of said motor means and to said power unit for providing pressurized fiuid to the motor means, and wherein each of said conveyor means comprises a pair of individual sections, a fluid powered motor means drivingly coupled to each conveyor section, the last mentioned motor means being coupled in series, and the pump means for the last mentioned motor means including both a constant volume and a variable volume pump.

10. In a mobile excavating machine having a chassis, traction mechanism supporting said chassis for movement along the ground, an endless digging unit including a plurality of excavating buckets oriented about the outer periphery of the digging unit, means projecting generally longitudinally outwardly from the rearward end of said chassis and movably supporting said digging unit thereon generally adjacent the rearward end of the chassis, said means including means providing for selective positioning of said digging unit in a generally vertical plane and with respect to the traction mechanism, the combination therewith of other means projecting generally longitudinally outwardly from the forward end of said chassis and another endless digging unit including, a plurality of excavating buckets oriented about the outer periphery of said other digging unit, said other digging unit being movably supported on the last mentioned means generally adjacent the forward end of the chassis, said last mentioned means including means for selectively positioning said other digging unit in a generally vertical plane and with respect to the traction mechanism for varying the depth of excavation of said other digging unit, said projecting digging unit supporting means being disposed at different elevations with respect to the chassis for enabling the rearward digging unit to dig at a greater depth relative to the traction mechanism than the forward digging unit, means for simultaneously driving said digging units in a common direction to cause coincident excavating thereby, said digging units being disposed in generally symmetrical relation with the longitudinal vertical center plane of said machine, and wherein the side extremities of said other digging unit project laterally of the corresponding side extremities of said traction mechanism.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,194,375 8/16 French. Q 1,413,664 4/22 King 37189 X 1,455,206 5/23 Howe 37-97 2,767,970 /56 Paul. 2,771,958 11/56 Ball. 2,894,341 7/59 Amthor 37--80 X 2,912,232 11/59 Lewis.

3,807,688 11/ 61 Hatcher. 3,032,994 5/62 Linclell 37-97 X 3,102,349 9/63 Thomson 37--92 X 40 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,049 1867 Great Britain. 4,648 1880 Great Britain. 137,545 6/50 Australia. 140,768 4/59 Australia.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

R. A. DOUGLAS, R. C. RIORDON, BENJAMIN BEN- DETT, Examiners. 

5. IN A MOBILE EXCAVATING MACHINE HAVING A CHASSIS, TRACTION MECHANISM SUPPORTING SAID CHASSIS FOR MOVEMENT ALONG THE GROUND, AN ENDLESS DIGGING UNIT INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF EXCAVATING BUCKETS ORIENTED ABOUT THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF THE DIGGING UNIT, MEANS PROJECTING GENERALLY LONGITUDINALLY OUTWARDLY FROM THE REARWARD END OF SAID CHASSIS AND MOVABLY SUPPORTING SAID DIGGING UNIT THEREON ADJACENT THE REARWARD END OF THE CHASSIS, SAID MEANS INCLUDING MEANS PROVIDING FOR SELECTIVE POSITIONING OF SAID DIGGING UNIT IN A GENERALLY VERTICAL PLANE AND WITH RESPECT TO THE TRACTION MECHANISM, FOR VARYING THE DEPTH OF EXCAVATION OF THE DIGGING UNIT, THE COMBINATION THEREWITH OF OTHER MEANS PROJECTING GENERALLY LONGITUDINALLY OUTWARDLY FROM THE FORWARD END OF SAID CHASSIS AND ANOTHER ENDLESS DIGGING UNIT INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF EXCAVATING BUCKETS ORIENTED ABOUT THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF SAID OTHER DIGGING UNIT, SAID OTHER DIGGING UNIT BEING MOVABLY SUPPORTED ON THE LAST MENTIONED MEANS ADJACENT THE FORWARD END OF THE CHASSIS, SAID LAST MENTIONED MEANS INCLUDING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY POSITIONING SAID OTHER DIGGING UNIT IN A GENERALLY VERTICAL PLANE AND WITH RESPECT TO THE TRACTION MECHANISM, FOR VARYING THE DEPTH OF EXCAVATION OF SAID OTHER DIGGING UNIT WHEREBY SAID OTHER DIGGING UNIT MAY BE POSITIONED TO DIG AT A SHALLOWER DEPTH THAN THE FIRST MENTIONED DIGGING UNIT, AND MEANS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY DRIVING SAID DIGGING UNITS IN A COMMON DIRECTION TO CAUSE COINCIDENT EXCAVATING THEREBY. 